Meeting with the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Monday, Israel’s defense minister expressed his country’s readiness to engage in talks with Palestinian group Hamas aimed at improving conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip. On Twitter, Benny Gantz expressed his...

Taiwan has been having “good interactions” with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s team, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, as it seeks to cement ties with the incoming administration after getting strong support from President Donald Trump’s government. Claimed by China but democratically...

 The federal government recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. He relented after suffering yet more legal and...

When Kuwait emerged from a monthslong coronavirus lockdown, hundreds of Kuwaitis flocked to reopened stores, the lines clogging malls, snaking through hallways and spilling onto sidewalks. But unlike much of the world, where long lines formed for donated food, Kuwaitis were waiting to...

France is expected to loosen its coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday as the boss of a major airline said proof of vaccination will likely become the only way people can fly in a post-pandemic world. Hopes over Covid-19 vaccines have given a boost to virus-weary citizens across the globe,...

The General Services Administration has ascertained that President-elect Joe Biden is the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election. President Donald Trump, who had refused to concede the election, said Monday that he is directing his team to cooperate on the transition but is vowing to keep up...

 The General Services Administration has ascertained that President-elect Joe Biden is the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, clearing the way for the start of the transition from President Donald Trump's administration. An official said Administrator Emily Murphy made the...

Ethiopian federal forces were encircling the Tigray region’s capital from around 50 km (30 miles) on Monday, the government said, after giving the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) a 72-hour surrender ultimatum. “The beginning of the end is within reach,” government spokesman Redwan...

 President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named the key members of his foreign policy team, tapping Antony Blinken as the next U.S. secretary of state, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Biden, a Democrat, also chose...

With Covid-19 vaccines on the horizon, the planet's poorest must not be trampled as countries scramble to get their hands on them, the World Health Organization said Monday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the latest batch of promising results from final-phase candidate...

The mounting number of coronavirus infections in densely-populated Gaza is spinning out of control, Palestinian health officials warned Monday. "The virus is spreading and the situation is getting out of control," Dr. Ahmad al-Jadba, an official at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told AFP....

Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service said on Monday it had arrested the "administrative chief" of the Islamic State group after his arrival at Baghdad airport. The man, known as Abu Naba, was detained in October as he was "getting into a taxi, just after landing in Baghdad", CTS spokesman...

India on Monday handed a dossier to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council about a major attack that it said militants from Pakistan had attempted in the Indian part of Kashmir last week, government officials said. The four militants, belonging to the Pakistan-based...

A total of 345 people were detained during anti-government protests in Minsk, the Belarusian capital on Sunday, the country's Interior Ministry said on Monday. The demonstrators marched in the streets, burnt automobile tires, and made false calls about barring railroads, spokeswoman Olga...

Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz has invited President Michel Aoun to direct talks in Europe on their countries' disputed maritime border, a rare outreach between nations still technically at war. Israel and Lebanon opened indirect negotiations on the border dispute under US and UN...

The United Arab Emirates has relaxed and removed a range of limits on foreign ownership of companies, state-run media reported Monday, in the country’s latest bid to boost its global status and attract foreign investors. The overhaul signals yet another startling change for the federation...

Israel Monday sent a delegation to Sudan, its first since last month's announcement of normalization of relations between the two countries, a senior Israeli official said. For days there have been rumors in Jerusalem that a delegation would visit Khartoum in the wake of the accord...

Saudi Arabia's health ministry said on Monday that COVID-19 vaccines will be free for all people living in the kingdom, state TV reported. The ministry said it hopes to have enough vaccines to cover 70% of the country's population by the end of 2021, state TV channel Ekhbariya said on...

 China will respond to the reported visit of a U.S. Navy admiral to Taiwan and firmly opposes any military relations between Taipei and Washington, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday as a senior U.S. official praised their ties with Taipei. A two-star Navy admiral overseeing...

Turkey prevented German forces belonging to a European Union military mission carrying out a full search of a Turkish cargo ship that they suspected of taking weapons to Libya, both countries confirmed on Monday. Soldiers from the frigate Hamburg boarded the Turkish freighter, the...